Gold is valuable and extremely rare, and therefore the yellow metal is usually protected at all costs. However, there have been multiple occurrences in history where evildoers have breached security measures and bullion has fallen into the wrong hands.

Today we count down the stories of everyday henchmen, terrorist groups, and nation states that have all stolen large swaths of gold loot. This includes notable worldwide events such as the Spaniards’ metal extraction from the New World, famous and recent ISIS raids on banks in the Middle East, and two significant transfers of wealth in WWII that occurred through the use of force.